The Wide World of Game Boy Merchandise: Kellogg’s Mail-Away Watch Offer

Nostalgia is big business these days, so it’s little surprise that you’ll see companies cashing in on imagery from their storied histories to a hungry fan base with much more disposable income. You’ll not only find various merchandise which plays off of the iconography of the games enjoyed during the youths of decades ago, but even the very machinery on which those games ran. Nintendo Entertainment System controller belt buckle, anyone?

But back in the day, celebration of the hardware in such a way was a bit rarer (though not entirely unheard of), with one particularly notable exception: The Nintendo Game Boy.

For whatever reason — perhaps owing to the compact, all-in-one nature of the device versus the console, controller, television, and wires needed for console play — the Game Boy’s image lent itself well to a greater well of merchandise than its homebound counterparts. One instance of note was a watch offered by none other than Kellogg’s.

While Nintendo’s affiliation with Ralston Purina is known well to this day, thanks to the Nintendo Cereal System and its incredibly catchy commercial jingle, it’s Kellogg’s with whom they’ve had their longest breakfast affiliation (right up to the recent Super Mario Cereal). And one of their earliest promotions together was around 1992, for none other than this humble Game Boy watch:

A simple digital timepiece, this watch places the Game Boy front and center, using the handheld device’s screen as its own digital readout. Nintendo’s logo is featured on the black band below, while a depiction of Mario is placed above (though one would think the opposite would be preferable, for when you’re suffering through a long school day and could use Mario’s reassuring smile to get you through until the bell rings). That makes it a double-collectible of sorts!

In order to acquire this time piece for yourself, all you had to do was gather two proofs of purchase and send $1.80 to the address posted on the back. A number of weeks (probably four to six) later, and you’d not only be able to carry a Game Boy in your hands, but sport one on your wrist as well.

Unfortunately, if a cursory search of eBay is any indication, these watches aren’t especially common (but not impossible) to come by, so if you want one and see it in the wild, it may be a good idea to grab it while you can — just hope that the price isn’t too much!

Lover of fine foods and felines, as well as comics, toys, and... oh yeah, video games. David Oxford has written about the latter for years, including for Nintendo Power, Nintendo Force, Mega Visions, and he even wrote the book on Mega Man!